regional medical center: Children's Activity Levels Strongly Influenced By Who They Are Friends With

Senin, 28 Mei 2012

Children's Activity Levels Strongly Influenced By Who They Are Friends With

Children's Activity Levels Strongly Influenced By Who They Are Friends With

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Academic Journal
Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Also Included In: Sports Medicine / Fitness
Article Date: 28 May 2012 - 15:00 PDT

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Children whose friends are physically active are much more likely to be physically active themselves, researchers from Vanderbilt University reported in the journal Pediatrics. The authors explained that several previous studies had focused on obesity and social networking in adolescents and adults, but never on younger children.

Sabina B. Gesell, PhD. and team found that friendship bonds play a vital role in setting physical activity trends in children aged between 5 and 12 years.

The researchers gathered data from three waves of files on school-age children who participated in aftercare, 40% of them were African-American, 39% Caucasian, and 19% Latino. They studied information on a total of 81 children.

All the kids had taken part in a 12-week afterschool program to determine whether a child's friendship network might impact on their physical activity patterns.

The researchers used accelerometers to measure physical activity, as well as a survey to identify each child's social network.

They found that a child is six times as likely to adjust to their peers' activity levels than not. The authors added that varying levels of physical activity had no impact on whether friendships flourished or ended.

Put simply, the study found that children in physically active social networks have a much higher likelihood of doing plenty of exercise, compared to those in less physically active social networks.

Children whose friends are sporty are more likely to be sporty themselves

In an Abstract in the journal, the authors wrote:

"These results suggest that friendship ties play a critical role in setting physical activity patterns in children as young as 5 to 12 years.
Children's activity levels can be increased, decreased, or stabilized depending on the activity level of their immediate social network during a 12-week afterschool program.
Network-based interventions hold the potential to produce clinically significant changes to children's physical activity."

Written by Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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regional medical center

Senin, 28 Mei 2012

Children's Activity Levels Strongly Influenced By Who They Are Friends With

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